Shaping of moral intensity regarding software piracy: A comparison between Thailand and US students

Software piracy is a major global concern for businesses that generate their revenues through software products. Moral intensity regarding software piracy has been argued to be related to the extent of software piracy. An understanding of the development of moral intensity regarding software piracy in individuals would aid businesses in developing and implementing policies that may help them reduce software piracy. In this research we studied the similarities and differences in development of moral intensity regarding software piracy among university students in two different cultures, the U. S. and Thailand. In particular, we studied the influence of the immediate community of individuals, such as other students, faculty, and other university employees, on the development of moral intensity regarding software piracy of the two groups of students. Results indicate that, in general, there are significant differences in moral intensity regarding software piracy between students from the U. S. and Thailand, and that gender differences also exist. Though the effect of the immediate community on the self-perception of moral intensity regarding software piracy of students was significant, there appears to be very little significant differences in this effect between the students in the two different countries studied. The findings have implications for teaching business ethics, and for developing and implementing policies to curb global software piracy.